The good news: Americans gave 2.1 percent more to charity in 2010 than they did the year before — for a whopping total of $290.89 billion.

The not-so-good news: Even with this uptick in generosity, they’re still giving 11 percent less than they gave just three years earlier.

“Giving remains a core American value,” wrote Giving USA Foundation Chair Edith H. Falk in a forward to its 2010 report. “Over the past decade, philanthropy has held its own in spite of two recessions, terrorism, wars, and a series of devastating natural and man-made disasters….it is undeterred, if occasionally deferred, by hardship.”

Charitable giving in the U.S. has increased in current dollars in every year since Giving USA began tracking it in 1954, with the exception of three years: 1987, 2008 and 2009. The largest inflation-adjusted decline was 7 percent in 2008.

“Giving took a worse hit during the Great Recession than in previous recessions,” Falk wrote. “The 2.1 percent increase in inflation-adjusted giving suggests a promising future for charitable giving in the coming years” and is “reflective of recovering economic confidence.”

Take a look at this synopsis of giving in America over the decades:

Giving has held remarkably steady at about 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product for decades, GivingUSA says.

We take a look at philanthropy this time of year, the official open-your-heart-and-your-wallet season. It’s a time of religious and moral reflection that inspires many to reach out to those who are less fortunate, nonprofit watchdog Charity Navigator observes — and it’s also a time when donors make their end-of-year giving decisions. (Donations must be made by December 31 to qualify for a tax deduction in this calendar year.)

Sforza birthed the OC Watchdog column aiming to keep a critical (but good-humored) eye on governments and nonprofits, large and small. It won first place for public service reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 2010. Sforza contributed to the OCR's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of fertility fraud at UC Irvine, covered what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in America‘s history, and is the author of "The Strangest Song," the first book to tell the story of a genetic condition called Williams syndrome and the extraordinary musicality of many of the people who have it. She earned her M.F.A. from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, and enjoys making documentaries, including the OCR's first: "The Boy Monk," a story that was also told as a series in print. Watchdogs need help: Point us to documents that can help tell stories that need to be told, and we'll do the rest.

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